Prince William picks up unique gift for Princess Kate in Cape Town

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William, Prince of Wales concluded his Cape Town visit this week by picking up a locally-made gift for Princess Kate.

The heir apparent to the British throne graced the Mother City this week for the annual Earthshot Prize. The winners were announced at a ceremony on Wednesday evening.

On Thursday, the Prince met with business representatives during a roundtable at Portside Tower. Here, seaweed organisations gathered to celebrate local innovation and to discuss the future of ocean sustainability.

Prince William’s gift from the sea

At the event the Prince of Wales, 42, selected a pair of earrings as a gift for the Princess of Wales. These earrings were made out of beach-cast kelp by the South African brand SeaTree Emporium.

According to Yahoo News, the Prince engaged with each display, discussing the potential of seaweed-based products with the different business representatives. William was welcomed by Earthshot CEO Hannah Jones and Vincent Doumeizel, founder of the Global Seaweed Coalition and advisor at the UN Global Compact for Oceans.

The Prince has shown enthusiasm in the past for sustainable seaweed initiatives. In June, he attended a seaweed innovation showcase at Cardiff Metropolitan University. He met with businesses from around the world who are using seaweed to repair the planet.

Thursday’s event was part of William’s Earthshot initiative. The Earthshot Prize aims to fund innovations to tackle some of the planet’s most pressing environmental issues.

On Wednesday the five winners were each awarded £1m (R22.5m) to fund and drive their projects.

Earthshot Prize 2024 – Full list of winners

Fix Our Climate: Advanced Thermovoltaic Systems. American company that convert excess heat, produced during the making of steel or cement, into electricity.

Revive Our Oceans: High Ambition Coalition for Nature and People. An alliance of at least 119 countries with the ambitious goal to protect 30% of land and oceans by 2030.

Build a Waste-free World: Keep IT Cool. A Kenyan-based company using solar powered refrigeration to help cut harvest waste for farmers.

Protect and Restore Nature: Altyn Dala Conservation Initiative. A project that has saved the critically-endangered Saiga antelope from extinction in Kazakhstan.

Clean Our Air: Green Africa Youth Organization. Who use behavioural change to help communities clean up waste and build circular waste management infrastructure across Africa.